This is what makes us girls
by schmetterlingstee
Summary: Genderbend!Highschool AU. A series of short stories revolving around the lives of genderbend!Yugi and her schoolmates. There will be some shippings in the future (open for suggestions) I plan to write a chapter for each character to introduce them and their role in this AU,shippings in-depth later; rated for language
1. Late for School (introduction)

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! or its characters.**

**A/N: I always wanted to write a genderbend-AU story, and here I am now. **

**Just so that no one gets confused, I choose Joanna as Joey's genderbend name, Sam is Serenity and I think it's kind of obvious who is Mrs. Crawford and Mrs. Paradius are supposed to be (you can take a guess of course)**

**I know, some things might be confusing at first, but there will be further explanations in the next chapters~**

**Please keep in mind that english is not my first language, so if you spot any errors, please forgive me for those.**

* * *

It was still early in the morning when Yugi Muto rang the doorbell of the Wheelers. She heard muffled yelling which she assumed was Mrs. Wheeler trying to wake up Joanna.

Yugi sighed. If she was right, her best friend probably overslept again and they would be late for school as always.

Finally the doorbell was answered by Sam, Joanna's younger brother, who went to their High school as well, but was still in his first year. "Good morning Yugi! I'm afraid, Joanna just got up, you'll have to wait."

Behind him, Mrs. Wheeler's head popped out of the living room. "Yugi, would you like something to drink or to eat while you wait for little Miss Slowpoke here?" Yugi nodded, since she had no other choice and entered the house.

She hated being late, but since Joanna always 'took her time' – that's how she called it - to get ready for school it had become almost routine for her to have breakfast with Mrs. Wheeler and Sam, and she loved it.

"Would you like some tea, dear?" "Yes, please."

"Mom, I'm leaving now, goodbye Yugi!" Sam called as he grabbed his bag from the steps.

"Yes, have a nice day, honey!" Mrs. Wheeler said as she took a cup from the shelve and handed it to Yugi.

"Bye, Sam!" Yugi shouted but only got the slamming of the door as answer.

Mrs. Wheeler poured the girl some tea into her cup, then sat down next to her. "So how's your mother doing?"

Yugi took a sip from the cup "She still has a lot of work to do, since my grandfather needs more help with his shop, but she's fine, I guess."

"Give her my regards, and please remind her of the tea party we're having next Thursday."

Yugi smiled "I will."

Just in that moment Joanna entered the kitchen. "Morning, Yugi. I'm ready, let's get outta here."

Mrs. Wheeler shoved her daughter to a chair at the dining table. "Not until you eat something, young lady!"

"But mom, we're gonna be late again!" the blonde groaned but was stopped as her mother stuffed a toast into her mouth.

"Then get out of your bed on time."

Joanna rolled her eyes, but had scoffed her toast in no time. "All right, let's go! Mom, where is Sammy?"

"He already went to school, because unlike you he isn't a dawdler. Now hurry up! Yugi, honey, I'm so sorry. Now you'll be late because of Joanna, do you want me to write you a letter of apology?" Mrs. Wheeler asked with concern.

"What? And I get none?" Joanna protested.

"Yugi was here on time, and I don't want her to get in trouble because of you, lazybones!"

"Don't worry about me, I'll be fine. Besides we have art class by Mrs. Crawford and she never gets mad."

"Well, I hope so, now you really should get going."

"Yeah, bye mom."

"Goodbye, you two. And Joanna, I want you to pay attention in class, understood? I don't want Mrs. Paradius to call me again because you're failing another class!"

"Ugh, yes mother."

"Don't sass me!"

* * *

"Sheesh, how am I supposed to stay focused on class, when I'm tired…" Joanna sighed.

Yugi tried to hold back her grin. "Maybe if you went to bed earlier, you wouldn't be so sleepy…"

"But how am I supposed to sleep, when I have to catch up with 'Black Velvet'?"

The smaller girl furrowed as she tried to remember what show Joanna was talking about. "That's the show you've told me about just yesterday, right? The one with the werewolf-girl falling in love with the vampire-guy?"

"Yes, that one. We really have to watch it sometimes. But it's not my fault if you get just as addicted as I already am." she grinned.

As her friend continued to talk about what she watched in TV yesterday, Yugi was distracted by a familiar voice.

'_Yugi.' _

_'__Good morning pharaoh, I almost thought you were gone. What is it?' _

By pharaoh she meant the ghost from her puzzle which she wore around her neck. The pharaoh looked a lot like her, maybe a few years older and she had introduced herself as the former empress of Egypt, but that was all she remembered about herself.

_'__You two will be late, if you keep drifting like this…'_

_ '__I know, but try telling that to Joanna.'_

Suddenly Joanna stopped her talk and took a look at her phone "Dammit! We should stop talking about TV shows and start running instead! Mrs. Crawford maybe forgives us, if we're five minutes late, but not a quarter!"

'_Have fun running._' the pharaoh disappeared. '_Oh, be quiet_!'

After an exhausting morning jog, they had finally arrived at school. As expected Mrs. Crawford didn't even say anything as they snuck into the class. Both of them took their seats as Joanna noticed something. "Son of a… I forgot my gym bag. Looks like I have to call mom during the break…" Yugi sighed. This school day would be just the same as always.

* * *

**Well that was actually just the introduction to the whole thing.**

**As you might have noticed, Joey's (or Joanna's) parents aren't divorced in this AU and they live together as a happy family. Just to inform you, almost every character has a different, less tragic, backstory, as in the canon, because I really wanted them to live a happier life...**

**Uhm yeah, and Black Velvet is not a real show, I just made that up...**

**To be honest I felt really stupid finding names for the girls, but I tried my best. Don't worry, because I'm planning on getting almost every character involved. In the next chapter's titles I will also mention who is the main character of the current chapter.**

**I have planned to write a chapter for each character, to introduce them and their role in this AU and when I'm done with this, I'll start to include some shippings.**

**I hope you liked it so far, because there will be more~**


	2. Choosing a club

**A/N: Yeay I'm done with chapter two! The main character of this chapter is Seto/Saeko, hurray! I know she (he) is a little OOC, but in this AU her (his****) parents are alive and they are a loving family, but I tried my hardest to keep her as much in character as possible.**

**The story is still developing, so the end of the chapter might be a little sudden, but that'll change soon, I promise.**

* * *

There she stood in front of the principal's office quite unsure how this whole thing would turn out.

Saeko had not the slightest idea what awaited her. Today after math class Mrs. Paradius had asked her to stop by her office without dropping a clue what she wanted to discuss.

_'__My grades are above average and I always pay attention in class, so what does she want?'_ she thought to herself.

Finally Mrs. Paradius entered the hall taking a sip from her coffee and studying some documents. The principal Daria Paradius was a middle aged woman who had to be in her early forties, but she looked like she only was in her late twenties. Either she had amazing genetics or had undergone several operations. Whatever it was, she was really pretty and Saeko honestly admired her. Who wouldn't want to look this good at her age?

For her position she was always a little overdressed with her short skirts, her sparkling collarette and the bright red lipstick she always wore, but no one seemed to care about that.

"Ah, there you are. Early as always." She smiled at Saeko, unlocked the door and entered the office.

She sat down on her desk chair and asked her to take a seat as well.

"Don't worry, it won't take long. So…I know you have a lot of work to do with the student council and everything, but thing is, if you don't join a club for at least one quarter of the year, you will be retained."

Saeko choked on her own spit. "What?! How- I mean why?" Mrs. Paradius sighed.

"I think it's pretty pointless as well, but that's a school policy I have no bearing on. Here's a list with all the clubs that exist, maybe you'll find something." Saeko took the sheet and skimmed it.

This had to be a bad joke. She raised an eyebrow and asked "How come, I've never heard of this policy before?"

"Well, my dear, most of our students go to clubs voluntary, so usually no one brings it up. But since you didn't visit one in your first years, you'll have to do it now."

Saeko sighed. It didn't seem like she had a choice. She took the sheet and got up from her seat. "Thank you, I'll take a look at it at home…"

Mrs. Paradius smiled. "Good, have a nice day." "Goodbye, Mrs. Paradius."

* * *

As she walked to the train station she plugged her earphones in and sighed.

As if the stress she had wasn't enough already, now she seriously had to join a stupid club where she would waste the time, she could use to study, but now she would have to defer that until later. "Unbelievable…"

Later that afternoon as she arrived at home she was immediately knocked over by her younger sister Momoko who had jumped into her arms. "Sis! You're home!" the little girl smiled. "Mommy, Saeko's home!"

Their mother came out of the living room and laughed as she saw the scene in the hall "I've heard that, dear. Saeko how was your day?" she asked while she helped her daughter up to her feed.

"Exhausting… Mrs. Paradius said, I have to join a club to make it to the next year." Saeko sighed.

For a moment she thought there was a glint in the eyes of her mother. "Oh, a club? That's lovely. When I was at your age, I joined the cheerleader club. I really had a great time. I'm sure, you'll have fun as well."

Saeko rolled her eyes. She loved her mom, but sometimes she was way too naive. "Yeah mom, but to be a cheerleader, you have to be popular. And you had friends back then, and I don't."

Her mother hugged her "Oh dear, but then this will be a good opportunity to make friends, don't you think? Besides, you're an interesting and loveable girl. The people who don't want to be your friends don't deserve you anyway." The girl tried to escape her mother's hug.

"Yeah, whatever..." Saeko tried to change the subject as quickly as possible. She knew her mother just tried to comfort her, but she didn't know how the girls in her school were. Most of the girls Saeko knew were two-faced and bitchy, to say the least.

"Anyway, I still haven't decided what club I want to take part in…" "Come on then, we'll have some tea and we can look together, what do you say?" "Fine…"

After boiling some water, her mother returned to the living room with two cups and handed one to Saeko who took a sip from it and placed in on the coffee table. "Let's see…the football team, no thank you, I don't want to get crushed to death; the soccer team…not ever..."

"Okay, so no sport club…hey, they have a book club; you love to read, don't you?" her mother smiled.

"Meh…but I'm sure they only discuss boring love stories from the last centuries or something… and you know, I despise those more than anything."

"You're right, I'm sorry, I forgot. What about the art club?" "I can't draw."

"The school newspaper?" "Boring. You know what, I give up. I will never, ever find a club that fits my personality." She put the sheet of paper aside and drank her tea.

Momoko climbed on her lap and grabbed the list and studied it closely. "Hey, what about this one, big sis!" she pointed onto the sheet. "That one? …Yeah, that could work …maybe. I'll think over it."

In that moment the front door was opened. "I'm home!"

Momoko jumped up from her sister's lap who almost dropped her cup and ran to the hall. "Daddy!"

Her mother got up to greet her husband and Saeko decided to join her. "Hey dad." "Hello, my dear." He pulled her into a hug then kissed his wife. "Dinner's almost ready, I could use some help with the soup." "I'll be right there, darling. Just let me take off my coat."

They had dinner and her dad told them about his day at work, how he totally beat his colleague at a pen-long-throw-contest, whereat her mother laughed that he should focus on his job instead of fooling around.

After Momoko had gone to bed, Saeko decided to fill out the form for the club.

While her parents watched some TV downstairs, she went to her room where she got changed and went to bed. S

he tried to read the book her grandmother had gotten her for her last birthday. It was called 'The Rotten Flowers In My Lungs' and it was utterly creepy, but Saeko loved it. But without even noticing she fell asleep after a while.

The next morning, Saeko handed the completed form to Mrs. Paradius regarding her choice which club she would join. The older woman took a look at the sheet. "So it's the chess club then, huh? Good choice. I'll sign you up, you can go to their meeting tomorrow after class."

"I'll be there." Maybe her mother had been right; a club could really be a great opportunity to make new friends.

* * *

**Who could she meet in the chess club and become friends with? The answer will be revealed within the next chapter.**

**I thought Daria would be a fitting name for Dartz' genderbend since it does not only mean 'ocean' but also 'the mighty', and I thought it would go well with his personality. **

**I don't know, but even with her(his) parents alive, I felt that Seto/Saeko wouldn't be the most social kid, so I tried to write her a little awkward and restrained, but not insecure or anything.**

**Anyway, I hope you liked it ~**


	3. Sleepover

**A/N: This one took me a little longer, but that's what happens when you start 2 new video games at the same time... anyway, in this chapter Joanna (Joey) is having a sleepover with her friends (and yes Tristan makes an appearance!)**

**again a list with the names, so no one gets confused.**

**Sam - Serenity**

**Ryoko - Ryo**

**Trish (Patricia) - Tristan**

**I'm so creative, I know.**

**Anyway, I hope you'll like it.**

* * *

"Ugh! Sam, be a good brother and help me with the damn mattress! I'm about to fall down the stairs and break my bones!" Joanna yelled as she tried to hold her balance.

Sam, who had been reading a book in his room, immediately ran to the stairs and grabbed the mattress his sister tried to shove up the stairs. "Why didn't you just ask me earlier? I could have helped you with the whole thing… besides, what are you and the girls gonna do later? Bake cupcakes and braid your hair?" he grinned.

Joanna let go off the mattress and took a breath. "If you think, we're gonna have pillow fights, paint our nails and gossip about boys and the latest trends, you're wrong, brother." A shiver ran down her spine even thinking about it.

"We're gonna watch a movie, eat pizza and chill."

"Have it your way, sis." he pulled up the mattress, carried it to Joanna's room and placed it next to her bed.

"Who's coming?" he asked.

"Yugi, Trish and Ryoko… - no one you could hit on." Sam frowned. "Who do you think I am?"

Joanna laughed "I was just joking, calm down."

"Yeah, whatever. I'll be off then. I don't want to be here when your sleepover is going down." Sam smiled.

Joanna gave her younger brother a puzzled look. "Huh, where are you going?"

"Tate and I are going to have our own 'sleepover' with burgers, action movies and video games. You know, boy's stuff."

Joanna raised an eyebrow then swung around. "Fine, have fun you two, I still have to take care of some things." She said while she took the stairs.

* * *

Later that afternoon, after Sam went over to Tate, Joanna was finally done with the preparations. After shoving most of her stuff under the bed, her room looked almost tidied up.

She stood in front of the bathroom mirror fixing her hair as the bell rang.

"I'm coming!" she yelled as she ran down the stairs and almost tripped.

Joanna opened the door and was greeted with a cheerful hug.

"Trish, I can't breathe!" she gasped while she tried to escape her friend's squeeze.

Trish let go off her and laughed. "I'm just happy to see you!" she said and gave her friend a soft punch.

Joanna tried to get back at her, but was interrupted by Yugi as she and Ryoko arrived on their bikes.

"Don't kill each other before we even start the sleepover!"

Joanna ran towards the two but completely forgot that she was just wearing her socks and immediately stepped into a puddle. "Ew! Damn!"

Yugi tried to hide her grin and Ryoko gasped "Oh dear!" while Trish started to snort with laughter.

"Oh be quiet!" Joanna grumbled while she took of the wet socks.

"Gross…anyway, thanks for coming. Walk right in; I'll just grab a new pair of socks."

* * *

While Joanna got her socks, the three girls had made themselves comfortable in the living room.

Trish looked towards the hall "Do you think Sam's here today?"

Yugi gave Ryoko a suggestive look and smirked.

Ryoko grinned back then replied "I doubt that. The last time we stayed over he didn't get much sleep because you and Jo kept laughing like hyenas in the middle of the night and to be honest neither did I."

"Well, I promise to behave tonight, and I'm sure Jo will be quiet as well. Because after the movie we're gonna watch she will be too frightened to even move."

Yugi raised an eyebrow. "What kind of movie is that you're talking about? I hope it's no splatter, because I always get sick from those."

Trish shook her head. "No, it's not one of those. It's called 'Rotten Flowers In My Lungs' and it's absolutely creepy but not gross or anything."

Ryoko started twisting her white hair "Huh, I've heard that name before. Is it based on a book?"

In that moment Joanna came back. "What's based on a book?" she asked as she sat down next to Yugi on the couch.

"The movie I picked for tonight, and yes, it is based on a book. How did you know?" Trish gave Ryoko a questioning look.

"Oh well, me and a girl from the chess club were talking about books and she told me about it.

She's really nice, you should meet her too!"

Joanna grinned "The chess club, huh? Do I know her? Or have I met her yet?"

Ryoko shrugged "I don't know. Her name is Saeko. She has long brown hair and blue eyes. Also she's quite tall. You've probably seen her somewhere in the hall."

"Then I really don't remember her…whatever, you have to introduce us to her sometime." Joanna said and got up from the couch again. "Anyway, who want's cake and soda?"

* * *

After a long chat in the kitchen, they had eaten pizza for dinner and got dressed up in their pajamas.

Yugi and Ryoko sat down in front of the television in their friend's bedroom while Joanna and Trish tried to fix the DVD player.

Finally they had managed to get the thing to work and made themselves comfortable on the big mattress as well.

"What's that movie even about?" Joanna asked.

She always pretended to be fearless, but she got scared easily by horror movies, unlike Trish who had already watched those at the age of 6.

Trish grinned "You'll find out soon enough, hon."

They were halfway finished with the movie when Joanna declared that she had to use the bathroom real quick, but it was obvious that she was so scared she needed to take a break.

Her friend had not said anything the entire time – she hadn't even touched the snacks.

As she had left the room Yugi and Trish broke out in laughter. "Oh man, we totally got her this time."

Trish got up and stretched herself. Suddenly she gave her friends an interrogative look. "Something is different about you two…"

Yugi raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

"It's like something is missing."

Ryoko looked up. "Well, I'm not wearing my necklace today."

Trish snapped her finger. "Yes! You're not wearing that freaky ring and that puzzle today. May I ask why?"

Yugi gave Ryoko an obvious glance. "Well, we decided to leave them at home, because they would get in the way the entire time."

Ryoko twisted a lock of her hair. "Yes. Literally."

Trish didn't get that one, but nodded understanding. "Fine, a wise choice you made." she grinned.

Finally Joanna came back. "Hey you guys. Um…do you really want to finish that silly movie? I mean it's kind of boring…"

Yugi laughed. "Is it that boring you screamed every time something happened?"

"I didn't scream, I was laughing loudly."

"…because it was boring?" Ryoko raised an eyebrow.

"Ugh, whatever! Let's just finish that silly movie and then do something fun." Joanna tried to change the subject.

When they finally finished the movie Joanna let go off the pillow she had clutched onto. "All right, now that we're done with that, let's do something more fun."

"How about telling spooky stories?" Ryoko suggested. "Yes, that sounds great." Yugi agreed. Joanna gritted her teeth. Why did her friends like creepy stuff anyway?

"I'll start!" Trish yelled.

"A few years ago, a class went on a field trip to the woods. The light was already gone when they had set up their tents. They all sat around the campfire as their teacher started to tell them a story. The story went like this:_Right here, many years ago, a young girl was burned alive during a witch trial.__As she screamed in the flames she swore to take revenge on the villagers. But they just laughed about her and left the burned corpse. The next day it was gone. Everyone assumed a wild animal had eaten it and nobody questioned it later. But a few weeks later the children of the men who had performed the trial went missing. They were found near a river – all dead. Someone had tied their bodies together and set them on fire one by one. But whoever had done it left no clues behind. Some said they had heard laughter from the bushes near the river. _After the teacher had finished her story-"

"Enough!" Joanna screamed. "Please, stop! I can't take it anymore."

Trish seemed actually surprised and grinned. "Woah, calm down there. I was just getting started."

Yugi gently touched Joanna's shoulder. "I'm sorry, we'll stop then. Maybe we should talk about something funny instead." Ryoko gave a yawn. "Actually I'm kind of tired…"

"Let's go to bed then." Joanna declared.

Yugi gave her a questioning look "Are you sure, you are alright?"

"Sure I am."

* * *

Later that night, it was almost past 2am, Joanna was still wide awake but didn't dare to move.

She felt really stupid, since the girls were able to sleep normally after that movie and she was too scared to breathe loudly.

She had pulled her covers up to her nose and stared at the ceiling. Her throat was dry and she was unbelievably thirsty, but she was afraid to grab the bottle next to her bed. Who knew what could grab her hand when she tried to reach for it.

"Jo." Suddenly Trish's voice came out of the darkness.

"Yes?" she replied.

"Are you still awake?"

Joanna nodded but then realized her friend probably couldn't see it anyway. "Yeah. You really got me this time…"

"What do you mean?"

"I can't sleep because of that damn movie. You better pick a different one next time - where no one gets haunted and then possessed by a demon."

"Understood." Trish laughed quietly.

"That story of yours… did you make it up yourself?"

"Yeah. You liked it?"

"I guess it was okay; if you overlook the fact that I almost shat my pants, you could say it was really good."

"Thank you. I've got a lot more of these; maybe one day, if you manage to overcome your fear, I'll tell you some of them."

"Sounds great... You don't think I'm chicken-hearted, do you?" Joanna asked.

"No, of course not. You're actually quite brave…Remember when we were on that class trip and you had to kill all the spiders in our room, because the rest of us were too chicken to do it?"

"Haha, yes. That was fun…"

"Think you can sleep now?" Trish asked.

"I'll try…" Joanna sighed.

"Goodnight then. See you tomorrow. But don't throw anything at me when you wake up first."

"I can't promise anything. Goodnight, Trish."

"Night."

* * *

**I think this chapter is a little longer than the last two, I hope I can keep it that way...**

**Yugi and Ryoko left their millenium items at home so both of the 'ghosts' won't disturb them.**

**The next chapter is going to be about the doma 'girls' and I'm really looking foward to writing it!**

**I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and don't forget to give me some feedback!**


End file.
